9 a.m. update: Rush hour wrap up

The INRIX Traffic Scorecard out this week said Friday mornings offer the best commutes in Minneapolis-St. Paul, and that held true today.

We barely had any accidents and only minor congestion to deal with. That led to nice travel times.

One early-morning crash on the Hudson Bridge tangled traffic on westbound 94 for about an hour around 5:30 a.m. and traffic was backed up beyond Carmichael Road.

While metro drivers sailed along, those in places such as Sauk Centre, St. Cloud, North Branch, New Prague and other places north and west of the cities were slipping and sliding all over the place. A band of freezing rain turned highways into skating rinks and that led to scores of spinouts and accidents.

I-94 from Clearwater to Sauk Center was especially dangerous. MnDOT said travel was difficult in west central Minnesota. I-35W in the Harris area also saw several spinouts and cars in the ditch.

Currently the one snag on metro roads is a stalled Metro Transit bus in the left lane on northbound 35W at 35th Street.

Starting at 9 a.m., the left lane of northbound I-35 from 210th Street to Kenwood Trail will be closed until 1 p.m. today as Xcel Energy crews do work and clean up in the center median.

I'll be back Monday morning with more live traffic reports. In the meantime, if you have traffic or transit questions, send them my way. I'll answer on my blog and in my weekly Monday column in print.

The City of Minneapolis will station traffic control agents along Hennepin and Lyndale avenues near the Walker Art Center during the Monday afternoon rush hour to help keep intersections open and traffic moving, a city spokeswoman said.

Construction on mainline routes rolls on but the biggest snags may be on local streets leading to parties, festivals and sporting events across the Twin Cities. Meanwhile light-rail trains won't roll in downtown Minneapolis.